Dubai Design Week puts community at the centre in 2025

From 4 to 9 November 2025, all eyes will turn to the East. This year’s Dubai Design Week will focus on ​“community”. We find out how the design event is placing community at the centre of creative thinking.

The festival centre is located in the Dubai Design District (d3), a futuristic creative mile complete with open spaces, canal banks, and glass showrooms. More than 250 programme items will take place here – from international installations to workshops for children. Each year, around 40,000 design enthusiasts flock to this creative biotope, which serves as both an industry meeting place and a public playground.

Opening doors and rethinking courtyards

Two signature programmes demonstrate how Dubai Design Week incorporates global voices: Abwab (Arabic for doors) is expanding its reach to West, South, and East Asia as well as Africa. Adopting the theme, In the Details, participants explore ornamental languages and cultural heritage in the form of immersive spaces, textiles, and architectural fragments. The Urban Commissions focus on the inner courtyard. As part of the Courtyard project, architects and designers are being asked to rethink this archetypal element as an inclusive, climate-resilient space for encounter.

Trade fair meets marketplace

In addition to the cultural programme, Dubai also has a commercial heart: at Downtown Design (5 – 9 November), brands such as Lasvit, Vitra, and Roche Bobois will present their latest collections. At the same time, Editions (6 – 9 November) will be the region’s first trade fair for limited-edition design pieces, covering everything from ceramics to collectibles.

While Tom Dixon curates the Forum for the first time, exhibitions by Draga & Aurel and Stéphanie Coutas will add sensual accents. In contrast, the Marketplace is where regional talents, craftspeople, and small labels can present their products within an atmosphere marked by street food, music, and workshops.

Dubai sets an example

Dubai Design Week 2025 is taking a clear stance: design should connect societies, enable cultural exchange, and help shape the future.

Dubai Design Week 2025

When: 4 – 9 November 2025
Where: Dubai Design District (d3)
Key figures: 300 exhibitors, 40,000 visitors, 250+ events
Special features: Downtown Design, Editions, Abwab & Urban Commissions

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